


The First Words

by RoseRose



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Angst, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Sumerian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21997537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseRose/pseuds/RoseRose
Summary: Writing hasn't always existed, but soulmates have. How did this change?At the dawn of writing, people glowed when they met their soulmate. Then, a baby was born with words written on him. What did this mean?An AU with the origin of words to identify soulmates.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 16
Kudos: 112





	The First Words

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta, betheflame!!!
> 
> Also, a thank you to the Put on the Suit Discord server, where I wrote the first 300 or so words of this right in the chat window, turning this from an idea into a story

The earliest writing was mostly used for accounts. Both government and business accounts were standardized, and while writing quickly moved on to other things, business was still where it was most important. Thus it was no surprise that when the words appeared, a man of business was the one whose child had them. Howard was a Sumerian businessman, and his son, Tony, was the first born with the writings upon his arm. No one knew what they meant, and the midwife was just as baffled as Howard. They kept the child until he was weaned, Howard blaming his wife for this blemish upon _his_ child the entire time. They had both lost their soulmates prior to marrying, and thus were stuck with each other, neither loving the other. Howard was never a kind man, but he was even colder towards his wife after his son was born.

The boy was a quiet child, but quickly up to mischief. When Howard realized that his son was writing in the dirt before he was even weaned, he worried and called upon the priests at the Temple. They did not seem concerned, but Howard was - that was too early. Perhaps his son would surpass him? That would not do.. When his son started speaking and correcting his math, Howard’s worst fears were confirmed. . He was the smartest one in his house, not a boy of barely two. Worried that his son was cursed, or worse, a curse upon himself, he left his son with the Temple of Ishtar. While he learned of his mistake as future children of his colleagues were also born with writings, the oldest of those nearly three years younger than his son, the Temple did not give his son back.

Tony grew up in the Temple. It wasn't a bad childhood, though most of the children he ran into were wary of him, thanks to the words on his arms. While the phenomenon might have been spreading, knowledge of them was not yet shared beyond the King, the top priests, and the parents of the children, all of whom were the children of the upper class. Thus, Tony hid the words for a very long time. The quick intelligence that had led his father to fearing him cursed led to him learning and becoming an engineer for the Sumerian government. He was designing public works before he even left puberty. Tony was successful despite the worries that the words were a curse, especially since no one ever glowed for him. His obvious brilliance let him succeed, despite the cloud hanging over his head. He had yet to meet his soulmate, when most of those even two years younger than him had done so. Many more children had been born with words written on them, yes, but it was still unknown whether this was a good change or if Tony was a harbinger of doom. He was the first, and his words did not help his cause. They were, "You cheated me."

Eventually, it was learned that the words were not a curse, at least not a traditional one. They were only the curse of the new, of change. Instead of the soul-glow happening when you met your destined, they were the first words your destined would say to you. Tony was sixteen when this was learned. A fourteen year old, with words, met someone who spoke their words, and when they did, the other person glowed, just as at a soulmate meeting. When both described the same feeling as when both people glowed, that is when the words were figured out. Soon, more couples met, including pairs where both had the soul words rather than the soul glow. More and more children were being born with the words, so no longer were the words looked at as a curse, but with what Tony's said, there were still many who treated him warily, at least those who knew what his words said. Others may not be cursed, but perhaps he was for having brought the change.

Tony ignored them all. He didn't have much in the way of friends, a few, but not many. He just continued to do his engineering work for the Sumerian government. He would have been a high ranking official, but the possibility of a curse kept him from that. Tony wasn't exactly unhappy with that, though. He could engineer in peace. The only issue was the desperate desire he had to meet his soulmate, the one who would complete him. Then came the day when he got the last of the lamb-rolls from the vendor on the street for lunch. Behind him, he saw a blond man, wearing the regalia of one of the King's soldiers. Laughing, the muscular blond said, "You cheated me!" Tony felt the glow, but couldn't help the snark. "I don't regret it." Unfortunately, it came out far more sincere than snarky. The blond man began to glow.

“You... you're my soulmate! But you're not glowing? Are... am I yours?” Tony realized this soldier had not known anyone with the words, but just the ones who glowed. The idea of the words had been made public, though, once their purpose had been figured out. So, hopefully one sentence would do.

“You said my words.” Tony almost felt faint at the joy radiating from the blond man. Still, snark had to be said. “Now, since I am not going to just call you 'mate' what is your name” -Tony threw a quick glance at the man's rank insignia- “Captain?”

“I'm Steve. You seem a bit old to have the words?”

“Tony. I was the first.” For the first time in his life, those words,and being the first to have them, didn't cause pain.

Suddenly, when the first one to have words found his destined, the debates ended, especially when it was obvious the two men were perfectly matched.. Not only that, it gave Sumer the best engineer. The words were a blessing, not a curse. And, it was clearly the way of the future. Soon, even those who could not read had children with words. Scribes were making fortunes reading the soul-words of babies. As for Steve and Tony, well, they may not have always been happy, as life is not always perfect, but they were a perfect match, helping each other through the hard times. And Sumer was happily blessed as the land of the soul-words instead of the soul-glow, the only land. (Until that fateful day when someone had words in strange markings. The pictures were not a thing of Sumer.)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] The First Words](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29383527) by [only_more_love](https://archiveofourown.org/users/only_more_love/pseuds/only_more_love)




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